6,000 leaps later, skydiver keeps on jumping for joy

Updated 11:46 pm, Saturday, December 29, 2012

Photo: Michael Miller, For The Express-News

Image 1of/9

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 9

John Tippy, former U.S. Army Golden Knight parachutist, Vietnam veteran and longtime member of the Special Forces Association, skydives for the 6,000th time at Skydive San Marcos on Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012.

John Tippy, former U.S. Army Golden Knight parachutist, Vietnam veteran and longtime member of the Special Forces Association, skydives for the 6,000th time at Skydive San Marcos on Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012.

Photo: Michael Miller, For The Express-News

Image 2 of 9

Tippy makes his landing. He says he’s had only a few anxious moments during jumps.

Tippy makes his landing. He says he’s had only a few anxious moments during jumps.

Photo: Michael Miller, For The Express-News

Image 3 of 9

Tippy, former U.S. Army Golden Knights parachutist, hugs his wife, Margaret, after completing his 6,000th jump. That milestone is rarely achieved by skydivers who aren’t instructors.

Tippy, former U.S. Army Golden Knights parachutist, hugs his wife, Margaret, after completing his 6,000th jump. That milestone is rarely achieved by skydivers who aren’t instructors.

Photo: Michael Miller, For The Express-News

Image 4 of 9

Enrique Jimenez, Jr. takes a photograph of John Tippy, former U.S. Army Golden Knight parachutist, Vietnam veteran and longtime member of the Special Forces Association, before Tippy skydives for the 6,000th time at Skydive San Marcos on Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012.

Enrique Jimenez, Jr. takes a photograph of John Tippy, former U.S. Army Golden Knight parachutist, Vietnam veteran and longtime member of the Special Forces Association, before Tippy skydives for the 6,000th

John Tippy, former U.S. Army Golden Knight parachutist, Vietnam veteran and longtime member of the Special Forces Association, prepares to skydive for the 6,000th time at Skydive San Marcos on Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012.

John Tippy, former U.S. Army Golden Knight parachutist, Vietnam veteran and longtime member of the Special Forces Association, prepares to skydive for the 6,000th time at Skydive San Marcos on Saturday, Dec.

Members of the Special Forces Association look for skydivers at Skydive San Marcos on Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012.

Members of the Special Forces Association look for skydivers at Skydive San Marcos on Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012.

Photo: Michael Miller, For The Express-News

Image 7 of 9

John Tippy, former U.S. Army Golden Knight parachutist, Vietnam veteran and longtime member of the Special Forces Association, shares a laugh before he skydives for the 6,000th time at Skydive San Marcos on Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012.

John Tippy, former U.S. Army Golden Knight parachutist, Vietnam veteran and longtime member of the Special Forces Association, shares a laugh before he skydives for the 6,000th time at Skydive San Marcos on

John Tippy, former U.S. Army Golden Knight parachutist, Vietnam veteran and longtime member of the Special Forces Association, waves to his friends before he skydives for the 6,000th time at Skydive San Marcos on Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012.

John Tippy, former U.S. Army Golden Knight parachutist, Vietnam veteran and longtime member of the Special Forces Association, waves to his friends before he skydives for the 6,000th time at Skydive San Marcos

FENTRESS — Forty-six years after he first jumped out of an airplane at Fort Benning, Ga., and liked the inexplicable feel of it, John Tippy packed his parachute Saturday for a milestone that most skydivers would find unimaginable.

“Today I'm going to jump from a low altitude of 3,500 feet. It's colder the higher up you go, and also, it's so the people can see it better,” said Tippy, 65, who served 22 years in the U.S. Army Special Forces.

And with his wife, Margaret, and a couple of dozen service buddies from San Antonio looking on, Tippy climbed aboard a Cessna 208 for the trip aloft. In a few moments, he would emerge, a black dot dangling beneath an orange parachute, making his 6,000th free-fall jump.

Some of the guys from VFW Post 8541 decided to make an event of it, to they drove a 1971 “Deuce and a Half,” truck up from San Antonio. Still decorated with Christmas lights, the truck wore the title “The Chief” on its front bumper.

“It was beautiful. We made it up to 58 miles per hour,” said Mike Maloy, who had drummed up news coverage for Tippy's big jump.

Most Popular

“Six-thousand. That's a hell of a lot of jumps. I was a pilot. I wouldn't think of jumping,” he added.

Victor Krusi, a manager at Skydive San Marcos, where Tippy has been jumping for the past few years, said his milestone is nothing close to a record, but still is one rarely seen among skydivers who aren't instructors.

“He's got a lot of knowledge, and the young skydivers listen to him,” he said of Tippy.

Between the first one in 1966 and the one Saturday near San Marcos, Tippy has jumped out of military planes loaded down with weapons and equipment, been an Army jump instructor and a member of the Golden Knights U.S. Army Parachute Team.

He's also been a competitive free-fall jumper and owned his own jump school.

Over those many descents, Tippy said he had only a few anxious moments.

“I've had 15 malfunctions where there was a problem with the parachute. Usually, you wind up using the reserve parachute,” he said, without having to add that he never had a double malfunction.

But in 2002, he quit the sport to devote his leisure time to sailing, only to find it a poor substitute.

“I'm so glad he started jumping again. He's so much more full of life. He smiles a lot more,” said Margaret, who jumped until 1999 when health problems forced her retirement.

On Saturday, Margaret was standing close by the white rail that keeps spectators off the landing zone when her husband, wearing a dashing black beret, made a perfect landing in front of her, and then delivered a deep bow.

“That's it. Six-thousand. It was great. It was wonderful, and it's not that cold up there,” said Tippy, who then posed for pictures with his buddies, some wearing hats that read “Desert Storm, Special Forces Retired and Army Aviator.”

“One more in the books. I'm going to keep doing it until I can't do it anymore,” he added, and then disappeared into the dressing room, getting ready for the big party at VFW Post 8541 in San Antonio.